Otherwise known as Ayres' Rock and The Olgas, or Mount Olga.
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Stuart Wells. These roadhouses are situated approx every 100km down the Stuart Highway. Not much else is on these lonely stretches of road, besides these roadhouses. The Stuart Highway, from Darwin to Adelaide, has to be one of the emptiest tarmac highways in the world.
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At Stuart Wells. I have NO idea what this emu was doing, it paced me on the fence then assumed this position. I don't even want to think why :) After a moment it got up and wandered away.
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An old Dodge truck. It was originally used for hauling equipment around for a movie in the 50s, went through a number of hands, before finding it's resting place here. Dodges aren't available in Australia, which is why this was such a rarity.
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A Cannonball Run memorial. The race was run exactly once hereabouts, and some drivers died. The plaque looks to be in Japanese.
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Henbury Meteor Craters. A large meteor broke up in the atmosphere, a few bigger pieces making these craters, some smaller ones making dimples in the landscape off to the left. This was some 4700 years ago, the craters have softened quite a bit.
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One of the Henbury craters. For scale, my husband can be seen over on the left.
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Taking a break in the shade of a Desert Oak. The trees have needles rather than leaves, and in a breeze makes a slithery sound like and unlike wind in the pines.
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A bush fly, hanging out on my rear view mirror. The scourge of the outback, these tiny flies are tenacious - desperate even - to get any bit of moisture on a human. I read it's actually the females looking for protein - and the smaller the female, the more protein she needs for her eggs.
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Erlunda Roadhouse. The roadhouse is on the south Stuart Highway. It sits on the intersection of the highway, and the road to Uluru (Lasseter Highway).
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Typical Stuart Highway view. Note that this is THE major (only) north-south highway in this part of Australia. That's actually a car way off in the distance (rush hour), and a bit of a mirage closer in.
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Mt. Ebenezer, another Stuart Highway roadhouse. There used to be a windmill across the road, but it's gone now.
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Lake Amadeus, near Mt. Conner. This is a rather large salt lake, long and narrow.
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Mt. Conner, near Uluru. Apparently it's often mistaken for Uluru by first-time visitors. From this angle it looks like a large round or oval plateau, but it's actually more of a long ridge. Still pretty impressive.
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The "Big Ugly Cactus" at Curtain Springs, where we spent the night.
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Emu at Curtain Springs. Curtain Springs is actually a rather large cattle station, but this little bit is a roadhouse for tourists going to and from Uluru-Kata Juta National Park.
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Our luxurious accomodations. About as budget as you can get, without sharing with strangers. Even this modest bit cost AU$60 a night. But similar accomodations at Uluru run AU$165, so this is a bit cheaper...
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Yup, that's the whole room, right to left, forward to back. I'm actually standing about 5' from the doorway, visible on the left. Bathrooms are a separate building.
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